Friday, 16 September 2011

I am very excited! The Holmes connection is growing & growing. I've found my second cousin once removed. They have also done quite a bit of work and have alot of information parts of the family we didn't know about. Can't wait to continue down the rabbit hole & learn more about them

Thursday, 15 September 2011

Basically it runs through things you can do when you hit a brick wall and then we you finally find what you're looking for, you do the happy dance.

Well today, I did a happy dance, even with one leg.

The last couple of days, one of my branches has grown exponentially. My Aunty & cousin came around for lunch while my Mum was staying with me. Within a couple of hours I have about 30 new names and alot more data & dates.

From there I jumped on the Western Australian BMD (Births, Deaths & Marriages) site and found the names of my great grandfathers (Abraham Holmes) parents (Abraham Holmes & Fanny Mason).

Yesterday I went hunting a bit more, found some census records (showing a couple more children) and a private member tree on Ancestry.com (showing what looked like my great great great great grandparents).

I quickly fired off a query to the Ancestry.com user and received a reply today. Yes - it is my great x 4 parents.

Tuesday, 13 September 2011

Something I have discovered in a very short time period is what a collaborative group the Genealogy community is. People all over the world offering fabulous tips, lessons learned & general encouragement to keep going.

I stumbled across Elyse Doerflinger's clips on YouTube and found them so helpful that I immediately jumped on her blog & found that just as useful. She's also very inspirational, at 35 I feel quite young to be getting into this, but Elyse puts me to shame & I very keen to see how far she goes.

After adding my four lines to Ancestry.com (Australia) message boards, I received 2 comments within 24 hours giving me some tips & leads to follow up. It's fantastic to feel that support behind you.

Monday, 12 September 2011

One of the most interesting things I have found with getting into my family history is who is and isn't interested.

Your FamilyMost of the family seem to be very interested as long as you don't expect them to do any work.

My grandparents, parents, aunties & uncles set a very good example many years ago and have been very good at keeping the family history and holding family reunions so we could all keep up with the extended family.

The younger generation used to be really good at attending but as time has gone on and their lives have gotten busier, they seem to find it harder and harder to make it a priority.

Coming from a large family (baby of nine), I am well aware of the excuses made with big families, "there's too many, it's too hard so we won't bother". But just by catching up with a small cohort, it keeps those connections open and allows for the next generation to make their own connections.

My advice to all who want to keep their family history alive is to lead by example or for a bigger cliche "build it and they will come". Sometimes it feels like you're the only one at the party, but if you can keep small connections going, it will be worthwhile in the end.

Saturday, 10 September 2011

According to the Sound of Music, "let's start at the very beginning, it's a very good place to start".

I have been semi interested in geneology for the last 5 years or so, but have always balked at the amount of work involved and if I'm honest, the cost that can also be involved.

I have delved into bits and pieces over the years, using very good groundwork layed out for me by other family detectives, but it is now that I sit, with one leg in the air after a knee operation and the font of all family knowledge, my Mother Marj, sitting beside me, that I have been truly been bitten by the Genealogy bug.

About Me

Help fund a branch of the tree!

While I consider this my hobby & am prepared to pay the incurred costs, it can become an expensive exercise with subscriptions, paper for reports etc.
If you would like to donate anything towards the tree, I will be very grateful.